Head and neck injuries due to head-down contact in sports in which such contact may occur (such as football, lacrosse, hockey and baseball) are an increasing concern. Of particular concern is the health risk to an athlete that suffers a concussion. Health risks—including short-term and long-term risks—are accelerated when an athlete suffers multiple concussions.
One study at the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSIR) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for example, identified six football-related fatalities that occurred during the 2014 season; five occurred at the high school level and one at the college level. See https://nccsir.unc.edu/files/2013/10/Annual-Football-2014-Fatalities-Final.pdf. All but one of the fatalities occurred during regularly scheduled games, the other occurred during practice. The football activities attributed to the direct fatalities were tackling, helmet to helmet collision, warm-up drills, and unknown activities. Five of the fatalities involved brain injury; the other involved a cervical fracture.
A major contributing factor to head and neck injuries in contact sports is head-down contact, defined as a player initiating contact with the crown (top) of the helmet. Head-down contact may be intentional or unintentional. Intentional initiation of head-down contact is referred to as “spearing.” Head-down contact can result in head injuries and axial loading of the spine, which can lead to, e.g., cervical fractures.
At least in part due to increased recognition of the risk of head injuries due to head-down contact, there has been an increased focus in all levels of play (e.g., professional, collegiate, high school, youth) on teaching the player to keep their head up and initiate contact with the shoulder or chest. Such forms of contact can be effective if performed correctly, and are much safer. Head-up contact must be learned, however, due to the natural tendency of a player/athlete to adjust their positioning or shy away just before contact, which can result in the player dropping their head. While head-up contact drills can be practiced, conventional methods for training a player to keep his/her head up do not provide instantaneous feedback to let the player know if they are dropping their head just before contact.
These and other shortcomings are addressed by aspects of the present disclosure.